


West Side Other Story

by melanie1982



Category: West Side Story (1961)
Genre: Crackfic?, F/F, F/M, LGBTQ, M/M, Musicals, queer, tribute?, untoldstories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2018-09-21 03:57:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9530558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melanie1982/pseuds/melanie1982
Summary: I feel there were a lot of untold stories within the framework of West Side Story.Riff was clearly infatuated with Tony. Baby John, portrayed as feminine, sensitive, and unwilling to assault Anita, was coded as gay. 'Anybody' was a baby-dyke or a would-be trans, depending on your interpretation (she may have even been asexual, but she definitely envied and emulated 'the boys').This fic pokes around those dusty corners with a literary stick. If you don't like dust, skip this one.  If you stay, you'll have to excuse the mess ;)This sort of incorporates elements of the original story, but veers off into strange new directions, too.Not my characters. Fiction. I make no money from this work.tentatively finished 3/20/2018If anyone wants to use my lyrics and add music to them, I give my permission. I mean, they're on the internet, so I'm pretty much giving them away :)





	1. Riff's Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riff. Tony. Unrequited love.
> 
> Musical-style.

"Womb to tomb?" Riff wanted to know. 

"Birth to earth," Tony reaffirmed. 

"That's why you gotta come to the dance tonight and stand up with me."

Riff had drawn Tony back into the Jets for one last fight, but Tony didn't see what ran beneath the surface. He didn't see how long, how deeply, how purely Riff had loved him. This wasn't just about a turf war, or Riff's makeshift family, the Jets; it was about him and Tony as a team, together, like old times. If only he hadn't steered Tony to the dance and into Maria's arms. If only he'd spoken what was really in his heart. Sure - there was every chance Tony would've rejected him. But there was a chance.. just a small one.. And even if Riff had been shot down, Tony would've gone home, or stayed at work, avoiding the dance, avoiding disaster.. While Tony sang his solo, Riff wandered the empty streets singing a song of his own.

My Bestest Friend

Womb to tomb, birth to earth  
Tony he promised me  
But my God how it hurts  
Hidin' all my indecency  
Side by side like brothers  
His ma treats me like one of her own  
But my poor hear it flutters  
When the two of us are alone  
My bestest friend

Never been a good boy,  
No, I'll never be made a saint  
Girls, I've had a few,  
And I sure can't pretend I ain't  
I cuss and I fight,  
Stay out late at night,  
Livin' all I can  
No time for regrets  
'Cuz I got all my Jets  
And, buddy, I'm their best man

*tempo slows and music softens*

But when I close my eyes  
And the day is done  
When all of the world is still  
And the guys are gone  
There's only one voice in the dark  
That I long to hear  
There's only one choice for my heart  
And it's oh so clear

(Riff lets out a deep sigh)

My bestest friend

(Riff does suitably choreographed acrobatics and ballet leaps to illustrate how Tony makes his heart soar)

*swelling music*

And now he's grown,  
Got a job and a life and a dream  
Wants a girl of his own,  
One to love and to be his queen  
I know as a pal, gotta  
Watch him spread wings and fly  
'Cuz he needs a gal,  
And by golly, I'm just a guy

And I know my dream,  
How it always, always ends  
When I wake up alone,  
And he's still just my bestest friend

(dramatic, starry-eyed close-up)

Best.. est... frieeeeend..

*fade scene*


	2. Baby John

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby John has a crush on everyone in the gang - but Riff is his favorite.
> 
> This is his moment.
> 
> We love you, Baby John - and we feel your pain.

Baby John was always grateful for the protection of the Jets.

He'd been singled out since preschool, getting called 'sissy' and 'fruit' and many other, more colorful names. 

Sometimes, in quieter moments, John wondered, "Gee, wouldn't life have been easier if I'd been born a girl?" - but that line of thinking was a dead end.

At least he had the stronger, tougher guys to keep him safe. They picked on him some of the time, but John put up with it, because he knew that, deep down, they loved him.

Baby John was all too aware, however, that the guys didn't love him the same way he loved them. Specifically, Riff didn't love John that way.

John had never been with a girl. Sure, he noticed them; he could tell which ones were pretty, and which ones weren't. John talked to the quieter ones sometimes, and they were okay to look at - same as a nice sunset or a fresh flower - but they didn't make him feel any of the stuff he read about in his comic books. They didn't make him want to grab them in his arms, or look into their eyes, or, ah, jeez, KISS them. 

Once, Riff had given him a stolen paperback with the covers torn off that he'd 'found' at the 'bad store' by the bus depot.  
Riff called the store the 'creepo depot,' and John wondered why Riff went in there if it was so awful - but whatever the case, Riff had given him a gift, and John was grateful, if a little confused.

"What's it for, Riff?"

"I want you to study up, buddy-boy. It'll teach you how to be a man. Lord knows you need some lessons when it comes to chicks," Riff had teased. John had started reading at page one, and by the time he'd finished two chapters, he was feeling rather green. The third chapter was worse than the others, and John had flung the book across the alley, letting it land in the garbage. It was too much for him.

When Riff had asked him about it later, John had lied, claiming he'd lost it. After a long moment of Riff's visual scrutiny, the gang leader had nodded. "Alright, Johnny. Alright. I'll get you a new one sometime. Now - who's up for a game of cards?"

That book had shown John once and for all that he wasn't like the other guys. He'd found his thoughts wandering to notions of doing things to Riff the way the man in the book did things to girls. That was crazy; nobody wrote books like that, because nobody did that stuff. Did they?

On the nights when the Jets didn't have a meeting or anything planned, John thought about that book. The thought of Riff doing any of that stuff with any girl made his fists clench and his palms sweat. 

"Why can't I just be like the other guys?"

Johnny decided to get some air. He didn't usually go out alone, but he was feeling reckless, helpless to stop his own desires. Maybe getting jumped would be a blessing in disguise; maybe they'd put him out of his misery.

"Ever since I was young,  
Ever since I was small,  
I've been on the outside,  
Can't get over the wall.."

*Baby John pushes off from a graffiti-decked wall to emphasize his frustration*

"Now I'm one of the gang,  
And they treat me real good.  
I can run with the kings;  
This is our neighborhood.."

*John glances at the various parts of Jets' turf, proud of what is 'theirs' * 

"But some days I can't deal,  
Want to run, want to hide,  
'Cuz of somethin' I feel,  
Somethin' deep down inside..

Why can't I  
Be like  
The other guys?"

*Baby John demonstrates remarkable dexterity and grace as he dances, considering how nervous and awkward he usually is. Perhaps he's just nervous in certain company*

"They all have their girls  
At least once in a while  
Riff wants me to get girls  
Like the old rank and file  
But, gee, when I try,  
I just can't follow through  
I'm not like other guys;  
I don't know what to do..

Why can't I  
Be like  
The other guys?"

*Baby John wraps his arms around a streetlamp, leaning against it wistfully as he stares off into some unseen dream-world*

"'Cuz all those other guys,  
They don't dream what I dream  
And all those other guys  
Think we're on the same team  
But I ponder the whys  
And I wonder what if  
I'm not like other guys  
'Cuz I only want Riff"

*looking around, seeing he's truly alone, Baby John repeats that line, slower, with sustained notes*

"'Cuz I.. only.. want.. Riiiiiiiiiiffff."

*voice nearly breaking in his despair*

"Why can't I  
Be like  
The other guuuuuuuuys?"

*a figure jumps out from the shadows, tackling Baby John and swiftly silencing his screams for help*

"Hey, ya big Baby! It's ME - Anybody's!"

*She clambers down from his back, and Baby John looks visibly relieved*

"I jumped you good, though, huh? Yeah, I did. Never heard me comin'! In and out of the shadows!," Anybody's crows.

Baby John didn't mind Anybody's for the most part, but she wasn't like the others, either. 

"What'sa matteh?" 

Baby John tries to shake it off. "I just got bored, that's all. Nothin' to do, no rumble, no nothin.'"

"So, let's find some trouble, show the guys we're just as tough as them! Whaddya say?"

John blanches. "Gee, hadn't we better wait for Riff before we make a move? He's our leader."

Anybody's snorts. "He ain't MY leader. He won't acknowledge me as a valuable part of the gang, then I don't gotta answer to him."

Baby John looks horrified, as though Anybody's has just blasphemed all that is holy. "Riff is the best. Don't be like that."

"Aw, go on home back to your comic books. Or d'you need me to walk with you, keep you safe?"

"Pshhh," was all he could manage.

"I mean it, Baby John. It ain't safe out here for a pretty boy like you. Some Puerto Rican could snatch you right off the street, make you do their bidding." Anybody's looked at him slyly. "Or is that what you're hopin' for? Maybe to make Riff jealous?"

Baby John spins around. "What do you mean, jealous? Riff ain't no - "

"I mean maybe he'll think you're joinin' up with the Sharks. What did you THINK I meant?" Anybody's has a hearty laugh at John's expense.

John's face falls. "I gotta go home."

"See ya, mama's boy."

Anybody's watches him leave, envying his male form, even if he is on the feminine side.


	3. Anybody's Dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anybody's isn't sure who she is. 
> 
> Perhaps she can figure it out via song.

Anybody's wasn't afraid to walk alone, even at night. Almost nobody tried to grab or kiss her, and if they did, she was fast and good with a blade. Speed or a good hard stabbing usually nipped any problems in the bud.

"Boy, that Johnny; what a pansy!," Anybody's thought.

"And what does that make YOU?," a small voice of doubt asked inside of her own mind.

"I'm Anybody's, but I'm nobody's. I don't need a fella, and you'll never catch ME in a dress, bakin' apple pies and chasin' screaming babies around. No sir!"

She looked down at her masculine attire, proud of her slight curves, yet resentful, too. "These things just get in the way," she muttered. Her monthlies slowed her down, made her tired and moody, and if she was going to be accepted as one of the gang, she couldn't afford to cry. 

Sometimes Anybody's wished she'd been born a boy. "Maybe God would let me swap with Baby John," she mused, smiling. "Then again, if I was him, I might love Riff, and I don't know if I could handle that!"

She stopped. "Would I? Would I chase boys, or girls?"

Anybody's had fished John's book out of the garbage and read it in one night. She wasn't sure which parts were better: the ones about the girls and how they felt, or the parts about the guy.

She knew John was different, but didn't have a way to explain it.

Anybody's knew she was different, too, but didn't have the words for that, either. She mused aloud to an internal tune.

Girls Don't

It's a man's world, so everyone says  
Girls are just there to look pretty  
But I'm tougher than any old boy  
From any gang in the city  
I can handle myself, no doubt  
Get down in the blood and the dirt  
Take on five at a time, no fear -  
But no sir, I won't wear a skirt!

*mocking tone, remembering others' criticisms* "Girls don't! Girls don't!"

Girls are s'posed to be nice and never blink twice  
When a guy thinks of holdin' their hand  
Or any old part, like their can or their heart  
But that nonsense I can't stand

I fight and I cuss and my hair is all mussed  
"Girls don't! Girls don't!"  
I drink and I smoke and jump fares on the bus  
"Girls don't! Girls don't!"  
I'm mean and I'm tough and I don't take no guff  
"Girls don't! Girls don't!"  
And I run a mile from that damn sissy stuff  
"Girls don't! Girls don't!"

'Make up your face, dress like a doll' -  
That kind of life is just no life at all  
I run the streets, I'm feelin' free..

*softens as her bravado falters*

But I never meet girls who remind me of me..

I want someone who won't ask me to change  
Someone who'll see me as special, not strange  
I want a love who is wild as me  
Not sure if love is a he or a she...

But who'd ever go for somebody like me?

*sighs* Girls don't.


	4. Unlikely Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's good to have somebody to confide in.
> 
> This is about as cuddly and likable as Anybody will get.
> 
> And, once again, Poor Baby John.

Baby John and Anybody's

Anybody's has climbed in through Baby John's window, and he has (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to let her keep him company. Anybody's starts making trouble in five minutes flat.

"Say, whatcha got there?"

"Hey, get outta that; it's private."

"Private, shmivate. Lemme see." (Anybody's looks through Baby John's sketches) "Ya know, these are pretty good. No; they're DAMN good."

The sketches are of various scenes from the neighborhood, but gradually give way to drawings of members of the Jets in a variety of poses. Anybody's hands slow as she leafs through, taking the time to look at each one as Baby John cowers behind his own hands, mortified.

"What're you doin' wastin' time with those knuckleheads, when you can draw like this? These are better than those lousy comic book pictures you spend hours starin' at!"

John hazards a glance at Anybody's. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She pauses. "But why all the black and white? I mean, some color would make these things really POP!"

"Gee, I don't even know where I'd get somethin' like - "

(Anybody's, inspired) "I'll be right back!"

John watches as she scrambles out the window and down the fire escape. She returns as he's holding his masterpiece - a close-up of Riff's face.

"Here. She'll never notice they're gone."

John looks, eyes widening, at his friend's haul. "Where did you get - "

"My sister. Uses 'em for work," she snorts, setting down a bundle of eye pencils, lip pencils and other cosmetics onto the desk. "I hope the colors aren't too girly. There's some good browns in here, and some skin tone ones.."

John begins to add color to one of his sketches. After a moment, he remembers himself. "Thanks."

Anybody's is thinking again. "You ever.. You ever use anything like this before?"

"Who, me? You mean, on my face? Get outta here."

"I was thinkin' maybe.. Maybe you could draw me a better face than the one I got now. Just a little, not too much."

John pauses. "You want me to make you look like a g- "

She slaps him on the arm. "Don't say the g word. But, maybe."

John nods after a moment. "You can't hit me while I'm doin' it."

That gets a slight snort from Anybody's. "Deal."

John finds that the momentary awkwardness of being inches from his friend's face melts away as he begins to work. It's like drawing, only better; his canvas is a living, breathing person, and John loses himself in the movement as he layers soft strokes of color upon her face.

When he feels he's finished, Anybody's produces a compact mirror from a hidden pocket.

"Whaddya carry THAT for?," he wonders aloud.

"Good for seein' behind me without turnin' around," she says, bristling a little. As she catches sight of herself, though, Anybody's voice softens.

Baby John squirms. "Well?"

"Well. Not bad, buddy-boy. Not bad at all."

She turns to the artist. "So. You gonna let me pretty you up a little?"

He turns a whiter shade of pale. "Boys don't - "

"You think Riff doesn't cover up any bruises with his girl's stuff so his ma don't ask questions? C'mon."

Baby John focuses on breathing slowly and evenly. "What if somebody sees? I mean, they already treat me like I'm a.. a.."

Her eyes narrow. "I wanna hear you say it. Somebody's gotta have the guts to say it out loud; might as well be YOU."

"A queer," he chokes out, only, coming from him, it sounds more like 'queeh.'

"There. It's out. You know, I'm just about ready to stop caring what anyone says or thinks. I used to think bein' accepted for one of the gang was what mattered, but now.."

John looks at the cosmetics, scattered haphazardly across his makeshift desk. She waits. 

"Oh, go on. But if I get beat up, I'm gonna - "

"Yeah, yeah. Now hold still."

Anybody's sets to work, bringing out his eyes.


	5. Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Each character has their own dreams for the coming night at the dance.
> 
> This goes so canon-divergent, I can't even.
> 
> If you've toughed it out this far, maybe you won't think this part is so bad :)
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains a reference to a past suicide attempt/suicidal ideation by one of the characters. It is a fleeting mention, but it's there.

John hated dances. He felt he had two left feet, and he was never sure what to do with his arms. At least Tony would be there to distract Riff, Baby John thought sarcastically. Even Velma wouldn't hold Riff's attention while Anton was around. Riff's criticism of John's dancing made him want the floor to swallow him up. 

Anybody's had tried to dance with the Jets, getting closer to the ladies - but Riff had given her a swift kick in the ass, and she resigned herself to playing the part of dutiful wall-flower. One eye was on the girls and boys, while the other eye was peeled for any sign of P.R trouble. Riff had taken one look at her made-up face, arched an eyebrow, and smirked. She'd shot him a look right back, muttering that she knew they now shared a secret, and the smirk had disappeared. 

If Riff noticed anything different about Baby John, he sure didn't show it. John wasn't sure which stung more: Riff's scoffing at his dance moves, or his inattention.

Riff snubbed Anita, which got the Sharks more riled up than ever. Were the chaperones really so oblivious to the unspoken threats between the two gangs? 

There was so much posturing and one-upping between the rival factions, but John was grateful for the chance to get lost in the crowd.

The dance battles had the tension simmering nicely; it seemed to Anybody's and Baby John that Riff was going to get his rumble. And then, while the rest of the revelers put the gym floor in serious jeopardy with their impassioned footwork, something went horribly, horribly wrong.

Anton and a young Puerto Rican girl locked eyes across the room, and suddenly a seismic shift was imminent.

Riff had noticed something out of the corner of his eye, but tried not to panic. After all, Tony had had plenty of chances to find a girl, especially now that he had a job and had gone all white-picket-fence on him, turning his back on the Jets. This was just a fluke, a momentary pique of his curiosity; things would blow over.

But what if they didn't? The adrenaline flooded Riff's system, and he tried to keep dancing, just keep dancing, keep his body in his control until the moment was right.. This could be the catalyst, the match that caught the wick of the Jets-Sharks dynamite keg. He just had to let things happen, so he wouldn't be blamed for what came next..

Anybody's watched, unnoticed, as boy met girl. It seemed so natural, so easy; how did they do that? What would it be like? How would it feel to dance one-one-one with someone, and to feel the way those two seemed to feel - like they were the only two people in the world?

Baby John glanced over at his friend, following her gaze. He should grab Riff and tell him Tony was making goo-goo eyes at the enemy. Riff would be so grateful; maybe it would earn Baby John some of the man's respect, or maybe, just maybe, something even better than that. 

It hit Baby John then, like a punch to the gut: Riff had already seen, and Riff was angry. The muscles in his jaw had tightened, his swallows now constricted, emphasizing the bob of his Adam's apple. There was something off about Riff at the best of times, something John had tried to excavate over the years, but Riff kept it locked away tight and buried too many layers deep. Tonight, John realized, Riff was more than emotional; he was on the verge of breaking. John had been there before, had teetered on the knife's edge, willing himself to fall into the abyss, for the pain to end. Riff was feeling that desperation Baby John knew all too well. If his ma hadn't knocked on the door in time that night, he'd be - 

Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks, pulled Tony and Maria apart just as their lips met. Riff came over, deliberately a little late to the game, trying to act surprised, trying not to let anyone see how the near-miss had ruffled him. "Be cool," he always said. He was trying, but John knew, Riff was different now. Suspecting a thing was a world away from knowing, and he'd seen Tony about to kiss that girl, he'd SEEN it, and the feelings he was dealing with would not go away until a greater pain took their place.

Anybody's had been left out of the boy-girl get-together dance, not welcome in either ring of the circle within a circle. She had overheard Riff and Bernardo set up a time and place for a war council, and knowing she couldn't fight with the gang had been the final straw. As Anybody's left, unable to face what she was feeling - unable to face *that* she was feeling - she told herself, over and over with each step: "Boys don't cry. Boys don't cry. Boys don't - "

There would be a war council to discuss the terms for the rumble. With every passing moment, John felt more ill. Why did this fight fill him with more dread than the others which had gone before? He no longer cared that the Sharks had jumped him, or even that Tony had been about to kiss a Shark's sister. He just wanted the madness to end before somebody got really hurt, or - 

Anybody's knew she wouldn't be allowed to rumble. Shit, the guys wouldn't even allow her to be at a war council. The Sharks didn't have any females in their ranks, but in other neighborhoods, ones she never told anyone she'd been to, there were women - women who slicked back their hair and wore men's clothes, who called themselves gangsters and walked without fear or shame. Maybe she could fit in with them; maybe she could get them to see past her pale skin and her American blood, and join their kind. If not that, then perhaps she could be like Anita or Velma, hanging on to the arm of the toughest member of a gang - a gang of women. There had to be something better than this, something to get the pain and the fear to stop, somewhere she could feel like herself. The Jets didn't want her; why couldn't she let go? What was this thing which kept them all orbiting around each other, drawing closer and closer to some terrible destruction? 

As Tony and Maria sang about suns and moons all over the place and shooting sparks into space, worlds were colliding. Lives were changing. Destinies were being sealed.

The party was over, but Anybody's felt she had to try one last time to be accepted. These people treated her like something they'd stepped in, but, damn it, they were all she had.

Baby John cared a little, and that was something. She had to try..


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rumble's Aftermath

Tony's efforts to stop the rumble had failed. Bernardo had killed Riff, and Tony had killed Bernardo. Tony was prepared to stay at the scene, to let the police find him, to punish him for so many failings leading up to that moment, and to prevent him from ever hurting anyone again. 

Anybody's, however, was not prepared to lose him. She cajoled Tony into running away, leaving behind the body of the man whose sister he was going to see, as well as the body of the Jets' leader, the man who had loved Tony more than Maria could ever understand.

Chino had broken the news to Maria. Despite her lack of interest in him, and despite her moral failings at the dance, Chino was prepared to try again. The news needed to be given to her gently, and that had been his plan - until Maria's desperate inquiries as to Tony's safety made his reason snap, plunging him into murderous jealousy. She would never be his, not really; on some level, Chino knew that.. but there was one way to restore Maria's honor, avenge Anita's fallen lover, and take back what little respect he had garnered from the other Sharks. In that moment, Chino knew that Tony had to die.

Tony was positively sick over all that had happened, and all that he had done. He had to get to Maria, to explain to her, and let the chips fall where they may. The Jets were no longer his concern. He crept into her room, accepting her anger and her tears as she hit him, holding her to comfort her, and, at last, making love to her. Their bodies, reeling with shock from the deaths, came together to feel alive.

The couple, bound together in grief with no time to unravel the ropes, planned to run away together with Doc's help. Tony went on ahead to get things ready, expecting Maria to meet him later.

Baby John didn't want any more violence. Riff's death affected him more deeply than he could ever say, and, rather than vengeance, he now longed for a new start, somewhere else, somewhere he could lose himself and so find himself. There had to be a better place: quiet, ordinary, boring. Baby John was the only Jet who shed a tear over the men's deaths, and he knew in that moment that he could never truly fit in. Without Riff to emulate, John could never be the man the others expected him to be. With his beloved dead and Tony on the run from the law, there would be no one left to shelter him or make him feel grounded.

After Ice had reminded the gang to stay cool, they were dispersing for the night. It was Anybody's who brought the news of Chino looking for Tony with a gun, prompting Ice to praise her for the first time, even calling her "buddy-boy." As awful as it was, she thought, maybe Riff's death would cause a shift in the gang's dynamic, allowing her to finally be one of them. 

Still, she didn't want to see another Jet casualty so soon after losing Riff. In and out of the shadows, Anybody's went in search of Tony, praying she'd find him before Chino did.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where my fic diverges far, far from canon.

Tony had realized in the afterglow that they had just made a monumental mistake.

Maria felt the change in him, felt him pulling away. "What, Tony? What is it?"

He looked at her in the moonlight. She was still so beautiful, but that clawing need for intimacy had subsided. He wasn't repulsed by her, but something had shifted, and he knew, in that moment, that those feelings had been misdirected. Those feelings wouldn't be back, and it had nothing to do with his refractory period.

"Tony, you are frightening me. Please. You can tell me anything."

She looked into his eyes, earnestly pleading. Trusting. Waiting.

"Maria.. I.. I thought I knew what I wanted. I thought this could work.. But it can't."

"I do not understand."

Tony pulled on his shirt, reached for his slacks. "Maria, you're a wonderful girl. I'll.. I'll never forget this night, the way we.. But it can't happen again. Don't you see?"

She was beginning to, but it was nebulous and foreign to her, something the others only joked about but never explained. There were men in her community who never danced with the women, who didn't fight or strike macho poses; was Tony..?

"Tony?" Maria felt suddenly more vulnerable than if she were naked, longing to hold him close, but knowing it was futile.

"I couldn't see it before. My whole life, I had this feeling, of something missing. Like something special was gonna happen for me, something different. I thought it was you, and, in a way, it was. Only.."

At that moment, the man he loved was being transported to a morgue.

The man he loved. How had he been so blind?

"Maria.." The name didn't fit his mouth anymore, didn't taste the same. Tony struggled to find the words for what he was feeling, the delicate sentiments now crushed by the weight of guilt and grief.

As Tony moved to the window, looking out into the street, Maria moved to stand behind him. She kissed him on the shoulder, a caring gesture without sexual overtones.

"There is someone else," she said softly, telling herself as much as Tony. She began to sing. 

"You had a love   
Which you thought was for me   
But in hindsight, my love just won't do.."   
Tony turned to her, waiting for wrath, for condemnation, for her to scream and raise the alarm - but Maria simply continued to sing, caressing his face tenderly as she did so.  

"You loved him; it's true,  
There's nothing you can do.  
Your best friend.."

Tony joined in, echoing her words: "My best friend.."

Maria: "Your best friend until the end..

He's fallen to fate;  
For you, it's not too late  
You must choose.."

Tony: "I must choose  
Although, either way, I lose.."

Maria: "You'll find a love  
To be all that you need  
Somewhere else, far away from me."

Pulling her close, Tony placed a kiss upon Maria's forehead. "You understand I can't stay with you."

She nodded, and Tony continued.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do. You want me to turn myself in, I will. You want me to - "

Maria placed her fingers to his lips, silencing him.

Maria: "I loved you, I'm sure -  
But nothing from before  
Is the same..'

Tony: "Love has changed,  
And he'll never call my name.."

"Tony.. You must go. Meet with Doc at the store; get away, far away from here. There has been enough death, enough pain.." 

They shared one final, though chaste, kiss.

"You're sure?"

Maria gave him a watery smile. "I can not keep you here. Your heart is not mine; I see that now. There will be another, Tony, someday - for each of us. But you must hurry; the others, if they catch you -"

Maria and Tony: "There must be a place  
Where gender, tongue or race  
Come second... to loooooooove" 

Anita was drawing near the door. "Maria?"

"Please, Tony, hurry. Be safe. Be happy."

"I won't forget you, Maria. I swear."

He was down the fire escape just in time to meet Anybody's and hear the bad news about Chino's gun. John was waiting in the shadows, and the three of them made their way to Doc's.

Maria suffered through Anita's condemnations before explaining that there was no longer any need to worry about Tony's intentions toward her..

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baby John had been crying. Anybody's, still looking for Tony, had found him crumpled into himself. As he'd caught sight of her, John had untensed slightly, still guarded. 

"Whaddya cryin' for, John?"

"Gee, Anybody's. I just.. I mean Riff, and even Bernardo.." He'd trailed off, his eyes seeing it all inside of his mind. "I wish it was yesterday."

"Yeah? Well, none of us is gonna see TOMORROW if we don't find Tony before the Sharks or the cops get to him. If this thing gets any worse, it'll be all-out war between the gangs. NOBODY will be safe."

John had realized she was right. "So what're you gonna do? I mean, Ice said - "

"Ice can go.. kiss his mother," Anybody's had spat. "We gotta find Tony, and the three of us need to get outta town, and I mean permanently."

John considered it. The Jets had been dealt a mortal blow; Riff, for all of his faults, had been their leader, and now he was gone forever. What did life hold for Baby John here? Maybe someplace else, the people would be different. Maybe *he* would be different.

"You're serious about this?"

She'd nodded. "Are you in, or are you out?"

John had gathered the energy to move from his perch. "I got nothin' to lose. Not anymore." Another tear, though he had willed it to freeze before it hit his cheek.

"Chino has a gun." Those words from Anybody's had chilled John to the marrow, and they'd gone looking for their friend, knowing their best bet was to get away - and not just to avoid murder charges.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doc to the rescue! Huzzah!

Doc was expecting a pair of star-cross'd lovers, not a trio of Jets. Still, he knew there was no time to waste where Tony was concerned..

"All three of you?," Doc had asked, uncertain.

"Yes, Doc. Now, please.."

"Tony, what about the girl? What if she's.. you know..?" Doc made an invisible baby bump motion with his hand, and the three friends felt green - Baby John in particular.

"Will you look out for her, Doc? I'll find a way to get in touch, and if you reply, it means there's somethin' I need to know. If you don't, it'll mean she's not.."

"Gee," said Baby John. Anybody's squeezed his hand, a little too hard, but well-intended.

Doc shook his head, resigned. "Alright. Enough messes have been made. The sooner you all get out of here, the better. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything, Doc," said John, surprising himself.

"Don't do anything this crazy ever again."

"No promises," quipped Anybody's. "But thanks a million, Doc."

What followed was a short hustle to the station under cover of darkness. Every shadow was a Shark or a cop; every scuttling rat or piece of trash blowing in the wind was a disaster waiting to happen. The three friends made it in time to catch the pre-dawn train.

"Once we get far enough north, it's just a question of crossing the border. Then we'll be alright," Tony murmured, trying to reassure all of them, himself included.

"Say, who's on the platform this time of day?," Anybody's asked, pointing to the slim silhouette several yards away. 

Maria emerged from the pre-dawn mists, mourning scarf in place. Behind her came Anita, stern, chin held high, similarly attired in mourning garb.

"Did she set us up?," John asked, ignored.

Tony was ready to accept his fate.

"Forgive me, Anton," Maria whispered. "I had to make sure you were alright. I had to say goodbye." 

Anybody's and John's hearts resumed beating, relieved.

"I can't tell ya how sorry I am. If I could go back, if I could stop all of this from happening.." Tony shot a loaded look at Anita, who met his gaze, unblinking. "I'd undo it all, every word. Every tear. Every ounce of pain."

Anita squared up to him. "This is America. Your kind will have to learn to let us be, just as those here before you had to learn to let YOU be." She paused, gathering strength. "I have lost much, but so have you. Maria told me. Your friend.."

Tony had the good grace to blush, but offered not a word of denial.

"I'm not a bad man, Anita. I know Bernardo wasn't a bad man, either."

Anita swallowed her pain. "I hope for a happy ending for you. For all of us." She looked to Maria, still love-struck; to John and Tony, both grieving Riff; to Anybody's, who was still figuring out who she was. Lastly, Anita considered herself, wondering what the future had in store for her. 

Maria embraced Tony one last time. "Be safe. I will let you go, but you must promise me that - "

Tony interrupted as the train approached the platform. "You'll never really lose me. What we had.. It was special. This isn't really goodbye; more like, 'so long.'"

The whistle blew. 

"Tony," Anybody's warned him.

Maria looked into his eyes. "Te adoro, Anton."

"Te adoro, Maria. Be well. Be happy."

The three fugitives boarded the train, and Maria and Anita watched them go, not waving.

Tony settled into his seat, looking out at the dawn of a new day - a day Riff and Bernardo would never see. With every sunrise, Tony knew, he would remember each of them. With every sunset, he would remember Maria, the woman who had loved him enough to save him from himself.

Nobody spoke a word until the last hour of the journey, when John was unable to bear the silence any longer.

"I loved him, you know. Riff. I.. I couldn't stay there with him gone. I couldn't live without being able to say it out loud."

Tony nodded. "I know, John. I loved him, too."

John's flash of jealousy died down as swiftly as it had arisen, for what was the use of coming to blows over a man neither of them could ever have? "Yeah? So you and Maria..?"

Tony sighed. "I thought I could be somebody else, but she showed me the truth."

Anybody's perked up, listening. "Well *I* didn't love Riff - not like that." After a beat, she added, "I wonder what the girls are up to right now, Velma, Graziella and the others?"

John and Tony exchanged a glance, and some sort of understanding passed between them.

"D'ya think we could find other people like us someplace, Tony?" John was getting bolder with each passing mile.

"Sure, John. There must be a place for us. Somewhere, a place for us."

John found those words reassuring. Anybody's, for all her bravado, took them to heart, too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue

It had been the new start each of them had hoped for.

Their modest apartment in the border town of Stanstead was cozy, if sparsely furnished. Each of them had gainful employment and kept a low profile, though that didn't mean they had no social lives - they simply had to be discreet about things.

John had had a short-lived affair with a logger, confirming that he was, in fact, gay. Tony had lived vicariously through John's experiences, feeling the highs of new love and the lows of heartbreak. Anybody's had dated around, still unsure as to who she was and what she wanted - but happy in the freedom her new life afforded her. No longer having to answer to the Jets, and having adjusted to the slower pace of life in Stanstead, her favorite saying was, "We've got all the time in the world." 

As the anniversary of their escape approached, the trio's thoughts turned to their former lives. Even Anybody's became introspective, although the maple whiskey may have helped that along.

"You boys ever miss it? The old neighborhood? The old life?"

Tony and John considered it. "Not the place," Tony said. "And not the tension. Some of the people.." He drained his glass. "Yeah. I miss them."

John concurred. "I miss Ma. I know Doc told her I'm okay, but I bet she worries."

Anybody's took a playful dig. "She'd worry more if she ever met your lumberjack lover."

John blushed, pouring himself another swig.

"I'm not sorry we left," Tony mused. "Almost a year already.."

Anybody's raised her glass. "To Riff."

John seconded the sentiment. "To Riff. And to Bernardo."

Tony had to upstage them both. "To Riff, Bernardo, and all the others who died for nothing. To all the aching hearts out there."

"To aching hearts," the others echoed. All three downed their drinks.

"Well, that's enough sap for me, boys. G'night." Anybody's excused herself to go to bed.

Alone, the two men spoke softly. "You still miss him, John?"

"Always. I know I'll never feel that same way for any other guy."

Tony grew thoughtful. "You ever think about you and me, John? I mean, we grew up together; we both loved Riff; and we've been through so much that the world could never understand."

"Gee, Tony. I guess I didn't let myself think about it, on account of us needing to get along and all. If things turned out bad.."

"But what if they didn't, John? What if it all worked out? You, me, and Anybody's, we've made it here so far. Would it hurt to try?"

"You really want me that way? I mean, I'm not much, Tony."

"You are, John. You've.. You've grown on me. You aren't 'Baby John' anymore; you're a man now. A good man."

Tony was beautiful. He had a wisdom in his eyes, gleaned from his traumatic experiences, but he was radiant and confident. John knew Tony had turned down other men, and perhaps now he knew why.

"I'm scared, Tony. Funny, huh? After all we been thru, why should *this* scare me?"

Tony sidled over to him. "Love is scary, John. It's messy and dangerous, but it's special. It's worth it all. Will you try?"

John thought of Maria, so many miles away, and how she'd found a good man. He thought of Anita, wishing she could do the same, knowing what it was to lose the man you'd first given your heart to. Life was crazy and uncertain; why not hold on to the blessings that came your way? 

John turned toward his friend. They were tipsy, but definitely not drunk. "Yeah, Tony. I'll try."

To Riff.

To life.

To being who we are.


End file.
